The following relates generally to a system that includes at least one memory device and more specifically to sensing techniques using a moving reference during a read operation of a memory cell.
Memory devices are widely used to store information in various electronic devices such as computers, wireless communication devices, cameras, digital displays, and the like. Information is stored by programing different states of a memory device. For example, binary devices most often store one of two states, often denoted by a logic 1 or a logic 0. In other devices, more than two states may be stored. To access the stored information, a component of the device may read, or sense, at least one stored state in the memory device. To store information, a component of the device may write, or program, the state in the memory device.
Various types of memory devices exist, including magnetic hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM), magnetic RAM (MRAM), resistive RAM (RRAM), flash memory, phase change memory (PCM), and others. Memory devices may be volatile or non-volatile. Volatile memory devices, e.g., DRAM, may lose their stored state over time unless they are periodically refreshed by an external power source.
Techniques for improving memory devices, generally, may include increasing memory cell density, increasing read/write speeds, increasing reliability, increasing accuracy, increasing data retention, reducing power consumption, or reducing manufacturing costs, among other metrics. For memory cells configured to store more than two states, multiple sensing components may be used to increase the accuracy, reliability, and/or speed of a read operation of the memory cell, among other benefits.